Day Sixteen and Seventeen (Homeward Bound!)

The smaller chairs are for the children that died...

Through the "Gateway to the West" one more time.

National Memorial in Oklahoma City

After a rather eventful (at least for a few scary seconds) Sunday our Monday was a pretty smooth ride. Hit a little rain from thunderstorms but nothing like the day before. Sara was still a little "gun-shy" when it came to big rigs on the road, but we did well. We stopped in Oklahoma City to see the National Memorial there. It was a very emotional visit, especially when we saw the smaller chairs that represented the children that died in the bombing. We made it to Albuquerque to meet my seminary roommate for dinner. We ate at a place called El Pinto and it's very famous. The food was good, but, of course, we have pretty good Mexican food where we live! This morning we're up and at 'em, getting ready for the drive home. Tonight we sleep in our own bed!!!!

Day Fourteen and Fifteen

Indianapolis Museum of Art

At the DCI Finals

We had a great time in Indianapolis. Saturday we slept in, had a leisurely morning and spent the afternoon in downtown Indianapolis as well as a couple of hours at the Museum of Art. We watched the finals of the Drum Corps International, which were quite exciting. One of the highlights of the event was the performance by the USMC Drum and Bugle Corps. They did a medley of songs from the musical "Hair," finishing with a chorus of "Let the Sunshine In!" The irony of that all was only matched by the quality of the performance!

Sunday we got up, packed the car and headed west. Our goal: Tulsa, Oklahoma. We had a pretty uneventful day. We even did a little wine tasting in Missouri of all places. The wine was pretty good. Once in Oklahoma our uneventfulness disappeared in an instant. We drove into the heart of a significant thunder storm. Sara was at the wheel. She slowed down due to the rain, lack of visibility and high winds. A big rig passed us in the fast lane and caused us to hydroplane. In a heartbeat we were heading toward the ditch! I grabbed the wheel and helped Sara steer into the slide, she hit the brakes and the tires grabbed for traction and we semi-spun back to the middle of the expressway. SO many things could have gone wrong in those few seconds...but they didn't. Sara pulled the car to the side (thankfully no one was coming for some time) and we sat there for a few minutes taking deep breaths. We changed seats and, as the weather began to subside, I drove us into Tulsa. We are grateful for the safety features of our car, the way we reacted, that no one was following us and that we weren't the only ones in Zelda (Sara always names her cars) when this all happened!  

Drum Corps Finals

Day Twelve and Thirteen (DCI here we come)

Sara's family! First Cousins Stan and Jane

We were up early on the twelfth, getting ready for the celebration of Evis' life. We packed up the cars, got dressed (it was the first time I had to put on long pants...) and headed to the church. It's a beautiful downtown church that began in 1747. No air conditioning though! Several of the family came as well as several members of the church. When it came time to share Sara spoke with love and grace. It was wonderful to hear so many speak of the ways Evis had touched their lives. I think too often we look at our lives and think we have no way of really making a difference in the world. Well, Evis is living proof that all we have to do is make the effort. God takes care of the rest. I spoke as well (I am a preacher after all) and sang a song. Pastor Sayward Lippincott spoke with great eloquence. She is also pregnant with her first child. I couldn't help remember Mary Travers song, "And When I Die." The refrain says, "And when I die and when I'm dead and gone, there'll be one child born and a world to carry on. There'll be one child born to carry on." It's the circle of life. And life always finds a way.

Afterwards we met in the library of York and had a little reception. It was great to see folks I'd only seen when we had a similar reception there after our wedding in 2007. That afternoon we packed up the car and headed to Wheeling, West Virginia. We're on our way home, finishing our vacation and road trip. The first two hours of the drive it POURED! Clearing up, we made it to Wheeling around 9:30 p.m.

Sara and Janet, her college roommate

Farmer's Market in Cambridge

Day thirteen we got up, had a little breakfast and headed out toward Indianapolis, site of the DCI World Championships. In case you don't know what that is it's the Drum Corps International major event of the year. Sara loves drum corps having been in one in high school as drum major (first female drum major for the school...what else did you expect?!) Along the way we decided to get off the main highway and drive through some small towns. We were driving through Ohio on our way to Indiana. Stopped in a town called Cambridge and found a farmer's market! Took in some sights and bought a couple of things. Stopped at a bakery and got a donut! Oh, and Sara made me stop at a quilting store too. Back on the main highway we made it to Indianapolis and freshened up a little before heading to the DCI Finals. They are being held in the Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts football team. It's a totally enclosed stadium and it's HUGE! We'll have pictures of the doings tomorrow. Today (day fourteen) we will do some sight seeing in the downtown and maybe go to the Museum of Art there. And then on to the DCI Finals.

Day Eleven (will we ever get back to normal??)

Home Sweet Home! We'll be there soon...

I met with the pastor of the Moravian Church on Monday afternoon, planning the service for Evis, which will be held on Thursday morning. Decided to try and play a round of golf on Tuesday morning and was hooked up with the brothers of Sara's friend Sue. We had a good time and I actually played pretty well. Worked on the service as well as the transportation of Evis' body, obituary, and other assorted details that accompany a funeral. Sara was doing the same in El Centro, and getting ready to fly back to York. About the time I thought Sara would be at the Yuma airport she called me. "Remember when I was booking the flight," she said. "Yes." "Well, I booked it not for this Tuesday, but NEXT Tuesday!" There was a moment of silence. "So, what are you going to do now?" I asked, afraid of the answer. I had these thoughts that Sara was going to miss the service, or we'd be buying another ticket or some other semi-disastrous thing. Besides I really missed her and wanted her here!! Well, she had managed to re-book for that night with the result that she would arrive only two hours later than originally. WHEW! So I'm off to Harrisburg to pick her up a little later. In the meantime, so many prayers and good wishes for us. Thanks to all! We love you and will be home soon.

Day Nine (what a week)

We spent days six and seven with our friends Bob and Nancy. All the while we thought about Evis and what was happening back home. Friday night we went out to dinner to a Country Club. Nancy's sister Judy had worked there and told us there had been a renovation of the restaurant and there was also entertainment. She was right on both accounts. As we pulled into the parking lot Sara got a call from the doctor in El Centro telling her that Evis condition was terminal. Evis' body was shutting down. Well, we enjoyed our dinner together, prayed for Evis, and went home to book a flight for Sara to go back home. That done we all went to bed. About 2 a.m. Sara got a call from the hospital. Evis had died. We laid there for a long time, talking about Evis and how she had been so much a part of our lives. We finally went back to sleep. Took Sara to the airport on Saturday and then went out with Bob and Nancy to visit a couple of friends of theirs who live in the Pittsburgh area. They are a delightful couple, he, Dave, a photographer by profession, and she, Janet, a CPA. Dave cooked a great dinner and we sat on the deck in wonderful weather, drank some good wine and generally solved all of the world's problems.

On Sunday I got up and packed the car for the trip to York. It's where Evis and Sara lived, Evis living there for all but the last two years of her life. She'll be buried there. So Sara is making arrangements in El Centro and I'm meeting with the pastor of the Moravian church in York to hold a service this Thursday. Sara will fly back on a red-eye on Tuesday, arriving on Wednesday.

The drive to York was interesting. I got off the turnpike to get gas and was looking for a Mobile or Exxon station as we had a card for them. My mapquest (iPhone app) gave me a route and when I got there it was no longer an Exxon. Deep sigh. I looked up another station a few miles away and went there. By the time I got gas an hour had gone by. Back on the road I headed to York and when I got there took the exit and made a left turn when I should have made a right turn. I got there at 3:15 p.m. Realizing I had made a wrong turn, and having been to York a few times, I thought "I can figure this out!" 45 minutes later I realized I was REALLY lost. Checked my mapquest again and found my way back to York. I got to Sue and Ed's place a little after 5 p.m. All in all it was a nice Sunday drive.

One of the pictures I'm adding here is one of Evis and the kids at a birthday celebration we had for Evan on July 30th. The last pictures we took of Evis...The others are Bob, Nancy and Sara in Pittsburgh, the old train station in Pittsburgh where Nancy's grandfather worked and Karl and me.

Day Four and Five

From Ron: We left Chicago and it was raining hard. Drove to Notre Dame. I hadn't been there since I went there in 83-84. Boy has it changed alot. We made the required stop at the bookstore to get "the shirt," which is the rally shirt for the upcoming football season. We also got a few other things. Made our way across Indiana, Ohio and into Beaver, Pennsylvania where we met our good friends Bob and Nancy Ullerich and Judy (Nancy's sister) and her husband Kevin and son Karl (down syndrome). We sat on the front porch of the house in Beaver, overlooking the Ohio River, sipped wine and generally wound down from four days of driving. We enjoyed a great home cooked meal and I got out my guitar and Karl and I serenaded the folks. What a great evening. Thursday Bob and I played a round of golf in the morning. I kicked his butt! (we're very competitive, like brothers) The girls and Karl played mini-golf. Tonight Bob is barbequing ribs and chicken. I'm guessing there'll be more singing and laughing and enjoying the evening tonight.

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The arch in St. Louis (on our way to Chicago) 

Day Three

From Ron:  Our plan was to get up early, hit the road early and make it to Chicago by early evening so we could enjoy some time in the 2nd City. And that's exactly what we did! The trip was uneventful other than the occasional highway work team that would slow traffic down. We stayed in an old venerable hotel in the South Loop where the staff was friendly and attentive. We wanted Chigaco style pizza and they recommended a very popular place called Giardino's. We could see why it was a popular place. The pizza was wonderful, mom's old world "holiday" recipe. After the pizza and a couple of glasses of Chianti we took a cab back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. Good, at least, until our son Evan called to tell us that Sara's mom was being taken to the hospital with symptoms of vomiting and stomach pain. Mimi, as the kids call her, lives with us so it has dampened our day's trip considerably as we wait for news. At almost 90 years old you never know...Sara is doing well, we're keeping both Evis (Mimi) and Evan in prayer, and readying for the drive through South Bend (where we'll visit Notre Dame for a bit) and then on to Pittsburgh to stay with friends.

From Sara: It was a great day. You do get in a rhythm of driving these long distances and today seemed easy in comparison to the previous two. We manged to complete two crossword puzzles and the longest run-on cliche we could create during the drive. I am reminded why most women in the east wear pony-tails in summer; I can barely stand the feel of my hair on my neck, the humidity is staggering! It is 7:00 am in Chicago as I write this. The rain has just begun here and it is heavy. I am thinking of my dear son, who is now charged with taking care of my dear Mother.

Day Two (and we still love each other!)

From Ron: Got up early and headed to Santa Fe. What a beautiful city! We had breakfast at the Plaza Cafe and then looked around a little. With the time change we left at noon and made our way toward Tulsa, Oklahoma. Uneventful drive. Beautiful weather. Saw the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere in Texas, along with the largest rest stop restrooms. Not related. Had dinner in Elk City in Oklahoma and made the drive through Oklahoma City arriving in Tulsa at 11:30 p.m. with the additional hour time change. Next stop: Chicago!

From Sara: Had amusing conversations along the way. Planned Ron's sermon topics for the next year...finished the Friday NY Times crossword. All in all a good day.

Arizona forest

Arizona desert

Day One

From Ron:  We left El Centro at exactly 12:01 p.m. Destination: Albuquerque. My seminary roommate lives there and I was excited to see him again. He's been living in New Mexico for a few years now. He grew up in Hobbs, NM. Tom is the director of nursing for Hospice in Albuquerque. We made good time and had clear weather until we left Flagstaff. We chased down a pretty big storm and spent about an hour and a half driving through hard rain. I was a little nervous about turning over the driving to Sara because of the rain but by the time we got to Gallup it has cleared up so we made the change and headed into Albuquerque. Tom lives out in the country so he met us on the highway and led us to his beautiful home.

From Sara:  We started the day in the low desert of  California. It is amazing how many different terrains you can cross in one day. By dinner we were getting gas in Flagstaff where we saw evergreen trees and heavy rain!